Q2 sales up 5% to £8.4bn (£8.2bn expected)
Core operating profit up 7% to £2.8bn (£2.7bn expected)
£400mn investment in UK life sciences announced. Now expect 20+ phase III trial starts in 2026 (previously 10)
Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown:
“GSK’s new Chief, Luke Miels, has come racing out of the traps at breakneck speed. Following hot on the heels of the $10.6bn swoop for NASDAQ-listed Nuvalent, he has delivered a set of forecast-beating second-quarter results. Both this year’s sales and operating profit targets are now expected to reach the upper end of their ranges, although earnings per share is guided towards the lower half because of finance charges on acquisition debt.
But it was GSK's latest R&D drive that stole the show. The enhanced focus on its future pipeline helps underpin management's target of delivering more than £40bn of sales by 2031, a message that appears to have landed well with investors as shares rose around 3%. Funding this investment is the obvious question mark, but with cash generation improving and a new £1.9bn cost-savings target unveiled, management looks to have thought carefully about how to deliver this acceleration in the pipeline.”
Notes to Editors
HL is the UK’s largest investment and savings platform for private investors and more than 2.2 million clients trust us with £205 billion (as of June 2026).
We help Britain build wealth, with confidence. Our promise is simple: to provide the best products, the best support and the best value. Founded in 1981, we’ve been helping people save and invest for a better financial future for more than four decades. We offer a lifelong, secure home for our clients’ investments and savings, combining great value with outstanding service, to make managing your money easier at every stage of life.
Our award-winning Savings & Resilience Barometer measures the nation’s financial resilience across our 5 to Thrive pillars, equipping people with the tools they need to strengthen their financial futures.
Saving and investing is for the whole family, and to support intergenerational wealth transfer, we’ve removed all platform charges and share dealing fees on our Junior ISA, meaning kids go free, and we’ve reduced the platform fee on our Lifetime ISA to 0.25%, supporting those savings for their first home or for retirement.
Regular saving into all funds, FTSE 350 shares, and selected investment trusts and ETFs is free.
Our clients also have access to the most comprehensive pension and retirement solution, including SIPP accounts, SIPP Income Drawdown, UFPLS payments and annuities, as well as over 14,000 investment options across funds, shares, ETFs, investment trusts, bonds and gilts.
HL Active Savings is the UK's largest retail cash savings platform that lets savers easily make more of their money and the HL Cash ISA allows savers to manage their Cash ISA portfolio across multiple banks, all within one account.